Glory Seed Devotional, 2017.03.30

When life throws you into a lemon tree that does not make you a lemon! The apostle Paul always had a habit of praying for people who found themselves hanging from the branches of a lemon tree. One such prayer is found in chapter one of his second letter to the Thessalonians. “That is why we always pray for you, asking our God to help you live the kind of life he called you to live. We pray that with his power God will help you do the good things you want and perform the works that come from your faith. We pray all this so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will have glory in you, and you will have glory in him. That glory comes from the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12, NCV)

The bible uses the word “glory” in different ways I understand Paul to be using it to denote energy/power in verse 12. In that light I see verse 12 reading something like this, “We pray all this so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will have energy/power in you, and you will have energy/power in him. That energy/power comes from the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I believe one of God’s greatest desires for us is that we succeed at life and He is willing to give us the energy/power to succeed. That does not mean God wants us to have the best of everything houses, cars, becoming rich and famous instead He wants us to have the best life He has to offer. Remember Jesus’ first miracle? It was at a wedding celebration where He turned the water into wine. The guests were drinking plain ordinary wine and then Jesus went to work they were drinking the best wine God had to offer. We need to etch that lesson of Jesus taking plain ordinary water into the God has to offer deep into our memory because we never know when we’ll find ourselves hanging on to a limb on a lemon tree.

Placed throughout the bible are prophetic prayers of faith, prayers that not only petition God on our behalf but also come with words of reassurance from God that He keeps His promises. One such prophetic prayer of faith is found in Psalms 119, “Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you.” (Psalm 119:34–38, NLT) When you read that prayer in earnestness taking its words deep in your heart/spirit you will hear the still small voice of the God saying, “I will!”

“Faith isn’t hoping for the best life has to offer, Faith is anchoring oneself to the Best God has to offer!”